One of the biggest problems posed by the current government shutdown is that it obscures how bad Obamacare really is. News media attention is focused on closed parks and memorials instead of Obamacare’s serious faults, and just how badly Democrats misled the American people in pushing for its passage.

First, President Obama promised that “if you like your plan, you can keep your plan.” This turns out to have been a lie. Many Americans are being told their current health insurance plan doesn’t meet with the approval of the nannystate, and therefore will be cancelled. I should know – I received such a letter from Kaiser Permanente. I doubt any Democrat reading this post will actually ask to see a copy of it, since it’s now become common knowledge that many plans are being scrapped due to new Obamacare regulations. Apparently Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi know what kind of health insurance I and other Californians need better than we do.

Second, President Obama promised that insurance rates would drop under his plan, and that an average family of four would see premiums drop by $2,500 per year. That’s not happening. In fact, the opposite is happening as insurance companies drop out of some markets and mandated benefits drive up rates. The Obamacare apologists have tried to spin the rate increases by saying the rates in the new exchanges are “less than expected.” Whose expectations? The government’s of course.

Anyone who paid attention in Economics 101 should know that heavy handed mandates and big increases in government regulations don’t drive prices down. Rather, they drive prices up by forcing consumers to buy some coverages they don’t want, and driving some companies out of the market altogether, as was the case when Aetna pulled out of the personal insurance market in California.

Finally, President Obama didn’t say anything about layoffs and reductions in working hours coming as a result of his prized health care law. An honest effort to sell his plan would have made mention of the entirely predictable fact that businesses would slash their workforces when possible to escape Obamacare’s 50 person workforce minimum, while other employers would reduce the hours of many workers to 29 or less to avoid another mandate. (Obamacare defines “full time” work as 30 hours per week, not 40. Maybe they thought this is France.)

In the event some Obamacare apologist reading this chooses to question the reality of Obamacare-induced job losses, Investors Business Daily has compiled an excellent rolling list of news reports of employers slashing jobs and/or hours due to Obamacare.

Republicans in Washington are absolutely right to continue fighting this deeply flawed law that is causing all kinds of disruptions that Democrats promised – PROMISED – would not happen. While the shutdown is a distraction from these serious problems with Obamacare, Republicans need to continue reminding Americans just why this law is so bad, and how we can do much better.